


she said, "never in your wildest dreams"

by wethethousands (atlantisairlock)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 05:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2569361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/wethethousands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just a publicity stunt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	she said, "never in your wildest dreams"

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'best song ever' by one direction.

"It's just a publicity stunt," Natasha's manager says to her in what he imagines must be a reassuring tone. The man is small, slim, vaguely twitchy and decidedly the furthest thing from reassuring. "You just have to play girlfriends until the premiere of _Dreamer_ \- have a few dramatic fights and public disagreements before the movie comes out - and after the initial breakup, the hype and fuss will die down eventually. The media's fickle. We'll take advantage of it."

Maria swallows hard, casting a glance over at Natasha sitting quietly in the corner. There's a smirk on her face, green eyes boring into Maria like she's a specimen on a glass plate. It takes her a moment before she realises that the world's biggest superstar is  _checking her out,_ and her face goes as red as Natasha's hair. 

Jesus, what was she thinking? Just a week ago she was nothing more than another extra on the set, and now?

Phil's still droning on, even though Maria hasn't heard a word he's saying. " - there's a lot in for you; a boost in your career, even. So it's a done deal! Now, I'll leave you and Natasha to get to know each other before it's all splashed on the tabloids."

The moment he leaves the room, Natasha comes up to her, sultry lips and dark eyes. "Hello, girlfriend," she murmurs, and Maria wonders what exactly she's getting into.

 

 

Considering she's the lead of a movie called _Dreamer_  - tagline:  _be brave;_ plotline: god knows, Maria's spent more time memorising the backstory of their relationship than finding out about the movie she was paid peanuts to be a background calefare in - Natasha  _is_ dreamy.

Even within the scene, she turns countless heads. And she's  _nice,_ she's actually  _nice;_ when the incredibly obnoxious Tony Stark had asked why she wasn't dating  _him_ instead, Natasha'd pulled Maria close and fired off a list of positives about her followed by a long list of negatives about Stark himself.

Maria had quite enjoyed the shock on his face as they'd walked away.

They have dinner together - Natasha actually makes conversation. They go to Six Flags together - they share cotton candy. Maria goes over to Natasha's place more than a few times a week - despite the stories the tabloids concoct, all they actually do is go through scripts together and watch movies and when they fall asleep together on the custom-made featherdown bed she says _good night_ and Natasha says  _good night_ back. 

It's better than Maria ever imagined when she signed the contract.

 

 

"This is all for the cameras; do it for them, that's all." Natasha always says to her when they're outdoors with shades on and coat collars turned up. 

Maria can't remember when that evolved from a soothing promise to a harsh, unfriendly reminder that burns down her throat and steals the breath from her lungs. 

The date of their impending breakup is drawing closer as they count down to the premiere of  _Dreamer._ Maria's learned that Natasha's a ballet dancer, loves carnations, has had exactly two real relationships and five publicity-stunt ones, hides evidence of teenage self-harm on her inner thighs and has a weakness for cuddling. She wants to learn more. She wants to hold her before they sleep, taste more than cherry and lies on her lips.  _  
_

Maria can't remember when it stopped being a publicity stunt, and started being more.

 

 

The publicity stunt was tremendously successful, Phil informs them.  _Dreamer_ is a sellout, beyond what they ever imagined. Half the world has already called them out on the falseness of the relationship but that doesn't stop the believers and the fans from swarming into theatres anyway. 

The matter-of-fact way he tells them that it would be timely for a breakup to occur sends chills down her spine.

Natasha notices, of course - that's another thing Maria learned over the course of their business agreement; she  _notices_. "Did Phil say something to upset you?"

She toys with the hem of her skirt, biting her lip. She can't look at Natasha, but she can feel her stare, and that brings her back to the first time they properly met in Phil's office. _"Idon'twantabreakup,"_ and it comes out rapid-fire, muffled, tumbling past her lips.

A frown creases Natasha's face. "What?"

Deep breaths, ragged. "I don't want to break up with you, Natasha."

"Why not?" It's in no way accusatory; just curious, and it makes Maria's heart sink because  _why did I ever think Natasha fucking Romanoff would ever fall in love with the dumb-ass extra she was playing girlfriends with?_

But she doesn't say that, she can't say that; Maria just blinks away the tears and her words are shaky. "I don't want to lose you."  _Be brave._ "I love you. I don't know when it stopped being some pretend game but I... I don't want to break up with you." She buries her face in her hands, fully aware of how stupid she sounds. "I'm sorry."

Then Natasha is cupping her face in her hands and the  _biggest superstar in the world is kissing the stupid extra on her movie_ and whispering "don't be." She's kissed Natasha before when they knew the paparazzi was watching, but this is different; this is right, this is real. This isn't Natasha Romanoff, Hollywood's shining star; this is Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill's girlfriend. 

There are cameras around them now; Maria knows it all too well, and Natasha does, too. She shakes her head, and it feels like she's looking  _at_ Maria, not  _through_ her, not anymore. "Don't do it for the cameras." Her lips linger. "Do it for _me_."

Maria wraps her arms around her, tastes her warm and sweet, does.  


End file.
